Identical twins carry a persistent epigenetic signature of early genome programming

Jenny van Dongen; Scott D Gordon; Allan F McRae; Veronika V Odintsova; Hamdi Mbarek; Charles E Breeze; Karen Sugden; Sara Lundgren; Juan E Castillo-Fernandez; Eilis Hannon; Terrie E Moffitt; Fiona A Hagenbeek; Catharina E M van Beijsterveldt; Jouke Jan Hottenga; Pei-Chien Tsai; Josine L Min; Gibran Hemani; Erik A Ehli; Franziska Paul; Claudio D Stern; Bastiaan T Heijmans; P Eline Slagboom; Lucia Daxinger; Silvère M van der Maarel; Eco J C de Geus; Gonneke Willemsen; Grant W Montgomery; Bruno Reversade; Miina Ollikainen; Jaakko Kaprio; Tim D Spector; Jordana T Bell; Jonathan Mill; Avshalom Caspi; Nicholas G Martin; Dorret I Boomsma; Genetics of DNA Methylation Consortium

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25583-7

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Identical twins carry a persistent epigenetic signature of early genome programming

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Identical twins carry a persistent epigenetic signature of early genome programming

Jenny van Dongen, Scott D Gordon, Allan F McRae, Veronika V Odintsova, Hamdi Mbarek, Charles E Breeze, Karen Sugden, Sara Lundgren, Juan E Castillo-Fernandez, Eilis Hannon, …

Nature communications, Vol.12(1), pp.5618-5618

28/09/2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25583-7

PMCID: 8479069

PMID: 34584077

Abstract

Adult

DNA Methylation

Epigenesis, Genetic

Epigenomics - methods

Finland

Genotype

Humans

Middle Aged

Netherlands

Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Quantitative Trait Loci - genetics

Registries - statistics & numerical data

Retrospective Studies

Twinning, Monozygotic - genetics

Twins, Monozygotic - genetics

United Kingdom

Young Adult

Monozygotic (MZ) twins and higher-order multiples arise when a zygote splits during pre-implantation stages of development. The mechanisms underpinning this event have remained a mystery. Because MZ twinning rarely runs in families, the leading hypothesis is that it occurs at random. Here, we show that MZ twinning is strongly associated with a stable DNA methylation signature in adult somatic tissues. This signature spans regions near telomeres and centromeres, Polycomb-repressed regions and heterochromatin, genes involved in cell-adhesion, WNT signaling, cell fate, and putative human metastable epialleles. Our study also demonstrates a never-anticipated corollary: because identical twins keep a lifelong molecular signature, we can retrospectively diagnose if a person was conceived as monozygotic twin.

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Title: Identical twins carry a persistent epigenetic signature of early genome programming
Creators - without role: Jenny van Dongen - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Scott D Gordon - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
Allan F McRae - University of Queensland
Veronika V Odintsova - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Hamdi Mbarek - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Charles E Breeze - Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences
Karen Sugden - Duke University
Sara Lundgren - Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland
Juan E Castillo-Fernandez - King's College London
Eilis Hannon - University of Exeter
Terrie E Moffitt - Duke University
Fiona A Hagenbeek - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Catharina E M van Beijsterveldt - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Jouke Jan Hottenga - Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Pei-Chien Tsai - King's College London
Josine L Min - MRC Epidemiology Unit
Gibran Hemani - MRC Epidemiology Unit
Erik A Ehli - Avera Health
Franziska Paul - Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Claudio D Stern - University College London
Bastiaan T Heijmans - Leiden University Medical Center
P Eline Slagboom - Leiden University Medical Center
Lucia Daxinger - Leiden University Medical Center
Silvère M van der Maarel - Leiden University Medical Center
Eco J C de Geus - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Gonneke Willemsen - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Grant W Montgomery - University of Queensland
Bruno Reversade - Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Miina Ollikainen - Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland
Jaakko Kaprio - Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland
Tim D Spector - King's College London
Jordana T Bell - King's College London
Jonathan Mill - University of Exeter
Avshalom Caspi - Duke University
Nicholas G Martin - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
Dorret I Boomsma - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Genetics of DNA Methylation Consortium
Publication Details: Nature communications, Vol.12(1), pp.5618-5618
Grant note: MR/P005918/1 / Medical Research Council 208806/Z/17/Z / Wellcome Trust MC_UU_00011/5 / Medical Research Council
Identifiers: 9943162308331
Academic Unit: King Abdullah University of Science & Technology
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article